The Sky is Pink

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…because the oil and gas industry says so…

Clearly, with all the evidence out there, the oil and gas industry has been allowed to get away with so much because Congress is so beholden to them.

Very little is said about solar or wind power when members of Congress are spouting the latest “the American people want…” schtick….and nobody ever proposes that the American public needs to reexamine their own energy usage.

Funny how during WWII, they didn’t have a problem asking folks “Is this trip necessary?” to save gas and keep tires from wearing out.

But now…?

*crickets*

It’s good to know some Americans are taking it upon themselves to reduce their gas usage by riding bikes.  I know that is not always possible especially for disabled folk…but perhaps that problem could be solved if bikes were designed with disabled in mind? Surely some nerdy engineer could figure out how to design a bike that would be safe and easy for not-so-disabled folk?

Anyway, we are part of the problem, too.  But we still need to tax the hell out of the oil and gas industry, for one–they’re less likely to cause trouble in D.C. with $$$ lobbyists if they don’t have wads of cash lying around…

Cloaking Inequity

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Julian Velasquez Heilig has a post up on the laughable (or not) edumucation mis-counting of school scores…um, yeah, if the Keystone cops could be Keystone Analysts….this is what they would look like–bumbling over themselves.

It’s a miracle…

well, wait a minute…it isn’t…

…yes, yes, it is….

No, no, it isn’t….

Oh, just stop paying attention to facts and think what we tell you to think…!

…oh, and yes, we in Indiana are certainly trying to keep up with Texas….

More letters to Bill and Melinda Gates **edited

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This has got to be one of the most profound letters I’ve read to date.  It is truly a great assessment of the misinformation campaign being run by the Gates Foundation and the others profiting off of our children.    No educators were included in creating Common Core!!   Red flags right there.   Be sure to follow the link that begins “entire body of social science…”  –it leads to a Washington Post article by Valerie Strauss.  In it there is a link to a  protest letter signed by educators and other professionals against Common Core—lots of good information there.

Megalomaniacal Gates seems to think that every child should be manipulated towards a career in the technology field….everyone should be just like himself…?  Probably thinks he’s the new Messiah, too.  God help us.

 

**edited to clarify

Tasers used by bullies

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Every time I think we can’t get much worse in the have-we-sunk-this-low department, I’m yet again stunned by acts of cruelty.

Even worse is the attitude that he should have “just left” his job.  In this economy?  Are you kidding?

The bigger question is why did this happen in the first place and why didn’t management do something to stop it…you know, by firing the ones doing it?

Well….if management was participating by filming the tazing and providing the tasers, then we know the answer to that.

Here again is another example of why our kids are bullying each other….they see adults acting like this and think it is acceptable.

New York State Test Outrage

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From Diane Ravitch:  Peter DeWitt Is Outraged by New York State Tests.

This is such a compelling letter–how can anyone claim that teachers are not dedicated?

I’m angry that I continue to have teachers step outside of the box…very brave teachers, and get pummeled because their children did not do well on state tests…that they were never supposed to do well on in the first place.

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Exactly.  The game has been exposed–kids were never supposed to pass these tests.  It was designed to fail them and their schools.

…just so some hedge fund manager, bankers, etc. could make a fast buck.

 

The Monuments Men

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…is being brought to the big screen this December.

Here is a page that briefly explains who they were and what they did.

I was happy to discover they did not neglect Capt. Rose Valland.  When they called the operation  “Monuments Men”  , the name implies that there were only men helping the effort.  As with most of history, women’s contributions are ignored or downplayed, and unfortunately, that seems to have been the case for Rose, as well.  She died without acknowledgement of her enormous contribution to the success of the operation.  Why is that?

Why did I have to learn in college that if it were not for women gathering nuts, berries, and seeds, human beings would not have survived….because men were not that good at hunting, because at that time, there were no tools? I should have learned this in the history classes I took in elementary, middle, and high school.  Nope. 

Why are women’s contributions to history and to sustaining civilization not seen as important or consequential?  It would take nothing away from men’s contributions….so I’m at a loss to explain it.

More on my blog here.

The Battle

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Usually, while I am at the sink doing dishes, the hummingbirds come to the feeder.  Some are quite comical–one time, it kept popping its head out, and then back behind the feeder…like it was playing a game of peek-a-boo with me.

The other day there was a battle between a wasp and a hummingbird.

Guess who won?

Not the obvious choice.

The wasps like to eat at the feeder, too, getting nectar out of the six or so holes.  Usually, they’re left alone, but this particular hummingbird didn’t want the wasp there, and used its beak to peck at the wasp.  The wasp flies up but doesn’t fly away as the hummer hoped.  It instead flies to another hole, where the hummer follows and again pecks at it.  I figured the wasp was going to be put off by it, but not this one–persistent little bugger just kept darting to different holes.  The hummingbird gave up and flew off.

Go wasps!

The war is far from over between the wasps and the hummingbirds, however….